From Here on Out
by LeslieSophia
Summary: Where a freak accident leaves the members of the senior staff at loss for words as they all stare at the spectacle in front of them, unsure how to react. Except for of course, Lyor who is never fazed by anything. Crack fic-ish. RxR!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**1/3**

"Em? Em, we need to get going if we don't want to be late." Aaron called, knocking lightly on the door.

She tore her eyes away from her hands, "Uh, yeah, just give me a second." Emily heard his footsteps retreat and she took a deep breath, looking back down at the offending piece of plastic in her hand. She tried to think but her mind was very blank, restarting every time she began on the trail of a new thought.

She jumped as Aaron knocked on the door again, his voice closer to the door this time with a note of concern in his tone, "Emily? Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah," she said, but her voice was a little to high-pitched, wavering a little.

"Okay, I'm coming in-," Aaron said after a pause, the doorknob clicking as he put his hand on it. She quickly swept her things back into her makeup bag and opened the bathroom door to reveal a very surprised Aaron standing on the other side, his hand still outstretched to where the doorknob was a second ago. He recovered quickly, his brow knitting together as his eyes scanned her quickly.

"Everything alright?"

Emily brushed past him, leading the way out of the bedroom and into the living room, "Yeah, I just couldn't get my mascara to work this morning." She said breezily, dropping her makeup bag into her purse and picking up her coat. She turned to face him, his expression still skeptical, hands tucked neatly into his pockets as he watched her. Emily jerked her head toward the door, "C'mon, Shore. Let's roll."

…

"Okay, so I have the preliminary standings on the healthcare bill and here's a schedule of the meetings for the rest of the week, as well as room for your changes." Sasha rattled off as she walked into Emily's office. The Chief of Staff, startled at her sudden appearance, spun around in her chair to face the desk, her fingers closing around the object in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Sasha asked slowly, approaching the desk suspiciously, her eyes narrowed shrewdly at the guilty blush that rose to Emily's cheeks. Realizing that there was no way out of it, she sheepishly raised her hands to the top of the desk, her fingers sliding apart to reveal the white stick nestled in her hands.

Sasha inched closer, her eyes widening, "_Oh my God,_ Emily…" Her eyes shot up to meet Emily's "Whose…?"

Emily looked down, avoiding her assistant's piercing eyes, "Uh," She swiped a finger over her eyebrow as she struggled to formulate a response while she was still trying to process this information herself. No one knew that she and Aaron were involved. Even she wasn't 100% sure what they were.

Emily slid the test back into its box to buy herself more time to respond, "It's… complicated. Look Sasha, I know I don't need to ask you this, but if you could just-,"

"My lips are sealed." Sasha promised, setting the binder in her arms on Emily's desk.

"Thanks," Emily told her, relief flooding over her as she handed Sasha a stack of files, "These are my finished notes and the finalized documents for Public Engagement."

Sasha nodded, lingering for a second, "Just one thing, a personal curiosity of mine… Is it Aaron's?" She asked in a hushed voice, glancing quickly at the doorway as she stepped closer to make sure more one heard.

"Sasha!" Emily exclaimed, trying her best to look scandalized but she knew the young women saw right through her.

"Hey," a knock on the frame of the door caused both women's heads to swing towards the front of the office to see Aaron standing there. Sasha's hand quickly shot out and slammed an open file shut over the pregnancy test box lying on the desk. Emily decided that after today, she was forever going to be haunted by the sound of Aaron's knock.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt." He said, hesitating at the threshold, a bewildered look on his face.

Emily blinked, trying to compose her face into a more calm expression as her heart thudded in her chest, "No, its fine, come in." She said in a forced voice, folding her hands in front of her to stop them from trembling. Sasha quickly snatched the folder into her arms as she caught Aaron glancing curiously at the bulge.

"So I just talked to the Saudi Ambassador and the summit is a green light. They're looking to set the date for two weeks from today." Aaron cut his eyes over to Sasha, shifting his feet as he his eyes lingered on the folder, "There's also the subject of the Congressional ethics inquiry…" He said pointedly as Sasha returned his gaze a little too intensely, her stance next to Emily very much akin to that of a personal guard dog.

"Right. Sasha, can you give us the room, please?" Emily asked, her eyes communicating silently with her assistant, thankful that it was Aaron who unknowingly gave her the much-needed quick escape. Emily felt her panic begin to subside as Sasha nodded.

"Sure, I'll come find you later with the completed ten-day book for the President." Sasha said quickly, but in her haste to leave, the tip of her pointed heel caught on the leg of Emily's desk and she lurched forward, just barely catching herself with her free hand gripping the edge of the table. Emily rose from her chair as both she and Aaron moved towards the falling White House aide, their arms outstretched to catch Sasha but while Emily's eyes stayed focused on her assistant's stricken face, Sasha and Aaron's attention was drawn to the floor in front of Emily's desk. The Chief of Staff turned away from Sasha's pale face, leaning slightly over the dark wood of her desk to see what they were staring at.

The bright pink and muted lilacs of the box lay on the floor, standing out crudely against the dark carpeting of the floor while the white stick stood out starkly in the middle of the floor just a few inches away from its box, a mocking contrast to the dark wood and solemn, refined details of the office. Emily felt the color drain out of her face as a thick silence fell between the three, standing around in a misshapen circle around the items laying on the floor. Sasha was still bent over the side of the desk, the folders still in her arms, her eyes wider than Emily had ever seen them, to the point that she was worried that her eyes were about to pop right out. Aaron on the other hand, hand a frighteningly blank look on his face, his jaw clenched somewhat, his hands hanging uselessly back at his sides, like the two parallel lines on the used pregnancy test.

"There you are, Aaron! I've been looking everywhere for you, man. Look, I need to run my briefing past you- I just added a couple items about the Congressional inquiry and I want to make sure I'm not violating your national security filter-," Seth burst into the room from the side door, a hand shoved carelessly into his pocket, the other waving around a stack of papers. He stopped just outside their circle, behind Aaron, his eyes following their frozen gazes to the floor.

"Whoa, what the f-,_ whose is that?"_

Emily slowly raised her eyes to Seth's taken aback face, while the Press Secretary looked between Aaron, Emily and Sasha. Sasha's eyes remained glued to the stick as Aaron's eyes rose to fixate speechlessly on Emily, the weight of his gaze causing Emily to begin to panic as she watched Seth's eyes move so fast between the three of them that she was afraid he would become dizzy like she was suddenly feeling. The question seemed to hang in the air for an eternity until, to Emily's great horror, another knock sounded from the main door and Lyor popped in.

"Hey gang, what's going on? Why is everyone standing around so quietly?" He said in his usual aloof manner, striding to the middle of the office. Emily's brain was screaming at her to stop him but all she could register was Aaron's eyes boring into her as she looked anywhere but at him. Thankfully, Seth still had his sense about him and blocked Lyor bodily before the Political Director could get close enough to see what had the senior staff frozen in their places.

"What? What are we looking at?" Lyor tried to catch a glimpse from around Seth but Sasha pounced on the box, shoving the test into its bright packaging and jamming it into a folder in her arms, hugging it all to her chest tightly.

"It's mine!" She squeaked, fleeing from the office without so much as a look over her shoulder. Aaron turned slightly to let the young women past him, his eyes fixed straight ahead, staring at nothing likely still in a state of shock.

"Come on, guys, you know secrets kept between colleagues yield to a toxic work environment." Lyor complained, "I can't function properly when there is something of importance that I am kept out of the loop on…"

"Get out." Emily muttered, lowering herself back into her chair. Seth turned to look at her, stepping back from Lyor as Aaron's head swung back around in her direction. Lyor's mouth gaped open, still confused about what was going on.

"What?"

"I said everyone out!" Emily snapped, pointing at the door, "And no questions to Sasha." She warned for good measure but something told her that the men were not fully convinced. Or at least, they wouldn't be once they recovered from the awkwardness of the whole situation.

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**Look out for Part 2 coming soon! **

**On another note, what do you guys think of me making this into a series of one-shots based on the Emily-Aaron-Lucas-baby universe set up in "From Across the Room?" Let me know your thoughts! Updates to "Relative Comforts" coming soon as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reviews and feedback! I've decided to keep this as a stand-alone and finish my other fics before starting a new series. But as always, feel free to leave your thoughts and any prompts in the comments below~**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**2/3**

Aaron and Seth managed to shake Lyor off with an excuse about reviewing a press release, which wasn't completely untrue. Aaron followed Seth into the Press Secretary's office, barely noticing as Seth shut the door firmly behind them.

"You okay man?" Seth walked around Aaron to sit down on his chair, wheeling himself closer to the desk while Aaron remained standing in the middle of the office.

"Yeah, that was… unexpected." Aaron admitted, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

Seth grimaced, "Helluva way to find out, huh?'

"What?" Aaron's hand fell away from his face and Seth looked up in alarm.

"Uh, I mean, I just assumed-," He stuttered, blinking quickly under Aaron's sharp glare.

Aaron leaned down, bracing his hands on the back of the chair in front of him, "You assumed I was sleeping with _Sasha_?"

"What? No man, Emily! I mean, aren't you?" Seth leaned in almost conspiratorially as Aaron pushed away, a hand on his hip, the other going to smooth his tie as he paced away from his friend, thoughts racing through his head at breakneck speed as he tried to think of a way to divert Seth off the track of the truth.

"That was Sasha's test." Aaron mumbled, ducking his head as his hand went from his tie to the bridge of his nose.

"Come on, Aaron, you actually believe that? Didn't you see the look on Emily's face? Give me a little credit, here."

Of course Aaron saw the look on her face. It was all he could picture in his mind, the image of her mortified expression seared into the back of his eyelids. No wonder she had been so dodgy this morning.

"So what are you going to do?"

Aaron spun around, "What do you mean, what am I going to do?" He asked sharply.

Seth pushed back from his desk, leaning back leisurely in his chair as he regarded his friend with a "no bullshit" look, "I mean it's yours, isn't it?"

_Was it his?_ Aaron grimaced, of course it was his. Emily hadn't been sleeping with anyone else, how could she when she spent nearly every waking moment with him, whether that was within the walls of the White House or in bed with him?

_Dear Lord._

Emily was pregnant. _They_ were pregnant. That thought hit him like a punch to the gut. He was elated at the thought of Emily carrying their child, but he had also pictured it happening a few years down the road with a ring on her finger, a more solid definition of their relationship. Yeah, he could understand how Emily must have been feeling.

"Wait a minute, how did you know-?" Aaron walked back Seth's desk as he smirked up at the National Security Adviser, holding his arms out wide.  
"Dude, please, I'm like the keeper of all things Emily and Aaron."

Aaron winced, "Don't say 'dude' when you're sitting in the chair of the White House Press Secretary."

"I mean, you drive her to work every day-,"

"Carpooling is good for the environment and it's a good way for us to go over daily briefings-,"

"-not to mention those secret looks and implicative conversations you two always seem to be having-,"

"-we work closely together, you develop a sort of shared language after a while,"

"_and_ the sexual tension that suddenly disappeared after you two started 'carpooling'" Seth finished smugly.

There was a pause as both men stared at each other, a challenge for the truth until Aaron sighed, looking away first so not to see the triumphant grin spreading across Seth's face. Aaron's phone buzzed and he pulled it out making a move towards the door, his Blackberry pointed threateningly at his friend.

"Not a word. To _anyone_. That includes Emily. Do not talk to her until I get a chance to."

Seth stood as Aaron began to leave, "But what are you going to do-?'

The door slammed shut behind Aaron and Seth dropped back into his chair with a groan, understanding how the press corps must feel each time he left a room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor._

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**3/3**

Emily couldn't wait for this day to be over. She had already witnessed Seth giving Aaron a stare-down, which the National Security Adviser pointedly ignored, brushing quickly past the Press Secretary while looking fixedly at a Renaissance painting hanging on the wall in front of him as if waiting for the figures to come to life and pummel Seth. Coming out of the President's study a few hours later, Emily had nearly walked into an awkward and completely silent encounter between Aaron and Sasha and she couldn't tell whose blush was more red- that of Sasha's flushed cheeks or the color rising to back of Aaron's neck when both stopped in the middle of the hallway as their eyes locked over the aides bustling around the hallway around them, before Aaron turned abruptly on his heel and escaped in the direction he had come.

Sasha had cornered Emily in the bathroom later, wordlessly handing her a small brown paper bag, stapled shut for good measure before locking herself in a stall with a sigh of great relief as if she had just handed off the responsibility of world peace to someone else. Emily dried her hands, mumbling a heartfelt "thanks" in Sasha's direction.

"Let me know what he says!" Sasha called after Emily as the Chief of Staff took the bag gingerly in her hands and left the bathroom.

Emily managed to dodge the rest of the senior staff for the rest of the day, throwing herself into her work, idly popping into meetings where her presence wasn't necessarily required just to avoid being left alone in her office like a sitting duck. Her exchanges with Lyor or Seth were always cushioned within a group of aides, scurrying away before they could ask for a private word. Aaron was nowhere to be found, likely stashed away in a top secret room where no one could disturb, let alone find him.

She was just about ready to pack up and leave for the night when Kendra marched into her office.

"Hey you." Emily said cheerily, glad for a fresh face, unmarred by the incident in the office earlier. The White House Counsel had been tied up in mediation all day, tucked away in a remote room where none of the news could have reached her. Or so Emily thought.

Kendra leaned against the back of an armchair, her arms crossed, jaw set in a determined expression that made Emily dread the next words to come out of her friend's mouth.

"What's been going around here all day? All the senior staff have been running away from each other all day."

"Oh, we had a disagreement." Emily said offhandedly, waving her hand as if to brush the matter aside like it was a trivial detail.

"I see, so is that why Aaron's ears turn red whenever he sees Seth or Sasha or why Seth is walking around with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, or why Lyor keeps spying on the four of you? You know, Aaron walks past your office and he looks in like there's a rabid coyote about to jump out and attack him."

Emily bit her lip, knowing that Kendra saw right through her. "What can I say? It was a big one."

Kendra narrowed her eyes, "And you're so skittish because you're still angry about the argument?"

Emily pulled her coat on, not quite meeting Kendra's skeptical eyes, "It's been a long day, Kendra. I'm sure it will all blow over by tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Mhmm, hopefully you'll make up before Aaron comes by tomorrow to pick you up in the morning." Kendra called after Emily's retreating back and her steps faltered slightly.

"Get home safe!" Emily threw over her shoulder, let out a long breath as she walked down the hallway.

_Shit._

She turned before she could reach the double doors of the exit, continuing down the deserted halls until her feet brought her to the piano room. She couldn't go home. Aaron would very likely be there and her escape from this mess of a day lay in the desire to be alone with her tangled thoughts. Emily sat down at the piano, dropping her bag at the side of the bench, her fingers coaxing a familiar melody out of the keys. She could go to Aaron's, she did have a copy of his keys in her purse, but what if he had decided to stay the night at his place instead? That scenario was too awkward to risk. Her pinky slipped on a black key, muddling the chord and her muscle memory blanked as she struggled to find the right fingering.

"Emily."

The voice was soft, she almost attributed it to the trick of her mind until he moved into the room.

"You're supposed to be at home." She blurted before she could stop herself.

Aaron smiled grimly, walking over to the piano with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders tensed, "So are you." He countered, sitting down next to her on the bench. "You wanna tell me why you're avoiding me if the test is Sasha's?"

There it was. The conversation they were both dreading of having at home, happening right here in the White House. They were both too similar for their own good, to end up in the same hiding place.

Emily lifted her chin, meeting his eyes mulishly, "I think we both know it wasn't her test." They watched each other for a long pause before Aaron exhaled, looking down to examine his knuckles as he rubbed them thoughtfully. Emily's eyes traced over his profile, her fingers itching to run through his hair and loosen his curls from the gel restraints, but she held back. After all, that move had essentially gotten them to where they were today.

He finally looked up at her, his voice surprisingly even as he asked, "Do you want to get married?"

In the years looking back, Emily would swear that this was the only time in her life where her jaw had dropped. Not just gaped, but honest-to-God fell to the floor. She was overwhelmed by the urge to either laugh, slap him or storm out and scream her lungs out before hopping on a one-way flight to her mother in Tampa.

So she just settled on staring speechlessly at Aaron until he reached out and lightly closed her mouth with two fingers on her chin.

"Are you shitting me right now?" Emily spat, jerking away from his touch. Aaron's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as he observed her livid reaction, the rest of his body remaining annoyingly calm.

"You want to get _married?_" She demanded, pushing herself off the bench to pace behind the piano as Aaron turned to watch her, his brows coming together in confusion.

"Well, I- uh," He was clearly flustered but Emily couldn't stop herself.

"Is that just supposed to solve everything? Just put a ring on it and all our troubles go away, never mind that no one even knows we've been fucking-, oh sorry,- _sleeping together-_,"

"Seth knows," Aaron said quietly.

"_What?_" Emily rounded on him as he quickly held his hands out as if in surrender.

"I didn't tell him! He figured it out himself! I guess we aren't as subtle as we thought." Aaron took this opportunity to grip Emily's elbow as she passed by him, effectively stopping her as she began pacing again. "Hey, stop." His voice softened as Emily calmed down enough to meet his eyes, "Look, maybe we both don't know how to respond to this… change of circumstance but we'll figure it out together, yeah? Ring or no ring." He added hastily at Emily's raised eyebrow.

She sighed. He was right. Neither of them knew how to react to this news and admittedly, the way Aaron found out was less than ideal. Emily leaned into his touch, her hands resting on his shoulders, her thumbs stroking upwards to trace of the skin of his neck above the collar of his shirt as his own hands settled on her waist.

"Hey guys, you're all still here? Am I interrupting? Let me guess, it's about that thing we didn't see in your office, right?"

"Lyor, LEAVE!" Emily hollered, stepping quickly away from Aaron as he groaned, bury his face in his hands, elbows resting heavily on his knees. She strode quickly to the door of the room to make sure Lyor was actually gone, and she watched him exasperatedly as he ran down the hall, waving his smartwatch around trying to simulate as many steps as possible.

"Let's get out of here," She muttered, walking back to Aaron and stooping down to pick up her purse before leading him out of the room.

…

"Sweetheart! We don't have to get married anymore!" Aaron head Emily call out in a singsong voice, the door of the apartment slamming shut behind her a moment later. He waited patiently as he sharp clicks of her footsteps drew closer to the bedroom and she appeared in the doorway a second later, brandishing papers in one hand, the other dropping her purse on the ground at the foot of the bed before she shucked her heels before climbing onto the bed. Aaron at least had the sense to close the file in his lap and toss it onto the nightstand before Emily climbed into his lap, straddling him as she placed a sound kiss on his lips in greeting. One hand came to steady her on the small of her back while the other rested lightly on her leg.

Emily waved the papers excitedly in his face, "We don't have to get married anymore." She repeated teasingly, "It was a false positive. I'm not pregnant!"

Aaron took the papers from her as she got off his lap, beginning to undress for bed. Sure enough, the blood test showed an absence of hCG in her system. Aaron blinked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up.

_Not pregnant._

That was good. No unplanned pregnancy. Everything was back to the status quo. He should be happy. Relieved. Celebrating just like Emily was, glad that their routine could stay the same, that they didn't need to announce their relationship to the world, that they were free to stay in their little bubble, safe from prying eyes and uncomfortable questions.

_But then why was there a sudden emptiness in his chest?_

Emily emerged from the bathroom in her slip and Aaron watched as she made a beeline for the bed, stepping between his knees as she pried the test results from his hands and set them on the nightstand on top of his file, a look of pure bliss on her face. Aaron's hands lifted on their own accord, his fingers skimming down her sides as her arms wrapped around his neck, her lips tracing over his cheek.

"Everything okay?" She whispered and he pulled her closer to him, his thoughts drifting to the little black box stashed away in his briefcase, the product of a covert trip he had made a few days after the incident in the Chief of Staff office while Emily had gone in to get her blood drawn.

He buried his nose in her hair as her infectious smile spread to his lips. Aaron fell back onto the bed, pulling Emily with him as she gave a surprised laugh.

"Everything's perfect." He replied, and he really meant it because from here on out, he had a clear picture of exactly what he wanted his future to look like.


End file.
